Good Morning & God Bless To Every One !
Today is February 17, the 48th day of 2014 and there are 317 days left this year where it is another Blessed Day in the pleasure of our service for our Lord here at:
For God’s Glory Alone Ministries !!!
While many may feel ‘Presidents Day’ should be the feature today, there is too much controversy in my opinion on the day. To me, I grew up with ‘George Washington’s Birthday’ which has later been changed to its present name. As most federal holidays are clear-cut, like the Fourth of July, for example, Americans celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. On the other hand, Presidents’ Day is a slightly strange holiday for three main reasons:
*There is no universal agreement on the actual name of the holiday.
* There is no universal agreement on which presidents are being honored.
* There is no agreement on something as simple as whether there is an apostrophe in “presidents.”
Ask a handful of people who the holiday is meant to recognize, and you aren’t likely to get the same answers. In fact, what is generally called Presidents’ Day is still recognized by the U.S. government as Washington’s Birthday. USA.gov lists it like this: George Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day) – February 17.
In my opinion, it should still be Washington’s Day as he is, in most folk’s opinion, the Father of our Country. If they want a presidents day, then they can set aside another day wherever they may like but don’t take our ‘Fathers’ day away from him. He served us well to earn the day!
So, What Happened Today In 1801?
Thomas Jefferson is elected the 3rd President of the United States
Thomas Jefferson is elected the third president of the United States. The election constitutes the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another in the United States.
By 1800, when he decided to run for president, Thomas Jefferson possessed impressive political credentials and was well-suited to the presidency. In addition to drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson had served in two Continental Congresses, as minister to France, as secretary of state under George Washington and as John Adams’ vice president.
Vicious partisan warfare characterized the campaign of 1800 between Democratic-Republicans Jefferson and Aaron Burr and Federalists John Adams, Charles C. Pinckney and John Jay. The election highlighted the ongoing battle between Democratic-Republican supporters of the French, who were embroiled in their own bloody revolution, and the pro-British Federalists who wanted to implement English-style policies in American government. The Federalists abhorred the French revolutionaries’ overzealous use of the guillotine and as a result were less forgiving in their foreign policy toward the French. They advocated a strong centralized government, a standing military and financial support of emerging industries. In contrast, Jefferson’s Republicans preferred limited government, unadulterated states’ rights and a primarily agrarian economy. They feared that Federalists would abandon revolutionary ideals and revert to the English monarchical tradition. As secretary of state under Washington, Jefferson opposed Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton’s proposal to increase military expenditures and resigned when Washington supported the leading Federalist’s plan for a national bank.
After a bloodless but ugly campaign in which candidates and influential supporters on both sides used the press, often anonymously, as a forum to fire slanderous volleys at each other, the then-laborious and confusing process of voting began in April 1800. Individual states scheduled elections at different times and although Jefferson and Burr ran on the same ticket, as president and vice president respectively, the Constitution still demanded votes for each individual to be counted separately. As a result, by the end of January 1801, Jefferson and Burr emerged tied at 73 electoral votes apiece. Adams came in third at 65 votes.
This unintended result sent the final vote to the House of Representatives. Sticklers in the Federalist-controlled House of Representatives insisted on following the Constitution’s flawed rules and refused to elect Jefferson and Burr together on the same ticket. The highly influential Federalist Alexander Hamilton, who mistrusted Jefferson but hated Burr more, persuaded the House to vote against Burr, whom he called the most unfit man for the office of president. (This accusation and others led Burr to challenge Hamilton to a duel in 1804 that resulted in Hamilton’s death.) Two weeks before the scheduled inauguration, Jefferson emerged victorious and Burr was confirmed as his vice president.
A contingent of sword-bearing soldiers escorted the new president to his inauguration on March 4, 1801, illustrating the contentious nature of the election and the victors’ fear of reprisal. In his inaugural address, Jefferson sought to heal political differences by graciously declaring We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.
As president, Jefferson made some concessions to his opponents, including taking Hamilton’s advice to strengthen the American Navy. In 1801, Jefferson sent naval squadrons and Marines to suppress Barbary piracy against American shipping. He reduced the national debt by one-third, acquired the Louisiana Territory, and his sponsorship of the Lewis and Clark expedition opened the west to exploration and settlement. Jefferson’s first term ended in relative stability and prosperity, and in 1804 he was overwhelmingly elected to a second term.
The flawed voting system that was so problematic in the election of 1800 was later improved by the 12th Amendment, which was ratified in 1804.
Other Memorable Or Interesting Events Occurring On February 17 In History:
1782 – In an extension of the American Revolutionary War, the worldwide implications of the war for Independence are made clear as the American-allied French navy begins a 14-month-long series of five battles with the British navy in the Indian Ocean;
1820 – The Senate passes the Missouri Compromise, an attempt to deal with the dangerously divisive issue of extending slavery into the western territories;
1863 – The International Red Cross is founded in Geneva;
1864 – In the American Civil War, the Union ship USS Housatonic was rammed and sunk in Charleston Harbor, S.C., by the Confederate hand-cranked submarine HL Hunley, which also sank;
1865 – The soldiers from Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army ransack Columbia, South Carolina, and leave a charred city in their wake;
1870 – Mississippi becomes 9th state readmitted to the United States after the American Civil War;
1904 – Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly premieres at the La Scala theatre in Milan, Italy. Perhaps because of the opera’s foreign setting or perhaps because it was too similar to Puccini’s earlier works, the audience at the premiere reacted badly to Madame Butterfly. Puccini withdrew it after one performance. He worked quickly to revise the work, splitting the 90-minute-long second act into two parts and changing other minor aspects. Four months later, the revamped Madame Butterfly went onstage at the Teatro Grande in Brescia. This time, the public greeted the opera with tumultuous applause and repeated encores, and Puccini was called before the curtain 10 times. Madame Butterfly went on to huge international success, moving to New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1907;
1909 – Apache chief Geronimo dies of pneumonia at age 80, while still in captivity at Fort Sill, Oklahoma;
1925 – The first issue of Harold Ross’ magazine, The New Yorker, hits the stands, selling for 15 cents a copy;
1933 – First issue of “Newsweek” magazine is published;
1938 – The first color television is demonstrated at the Dominion Theatre in London;
1944 – In World War II, Operation Catchpole is launched as American troops devastate the Japanese defenders of Eniwetok and take control of the atoll in the northwestern part of the Marshall Islands. The position on Eniwetok gave U.S. forces a base of operations to finally capture the entirety of the Marianas. Eniwetok was also useful to the United States after the war when in 1952 it became the testing ground for the first hydrogen bomb;
1947 – With the words, “Hello! This is New York calling,” the U.S. Voice of America (VOA) begins its first radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union. The VOA effort was an important part of America’s propaganda campaign against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. By the 1960s, VOA was broadcasting to every continent in several dozen languages. Today, VOA continues to operate, bringing “Life in America” to the world. And with “Radio Marti,” which is aimed at communist Cuba, it continues its Cold War tradition;
1964 – The Supreme Court, in Wesberry v. Sanders, ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population;
1966 – During the Vietnam War, in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while discussing Operation Rolling Thunder, Gen. Maxwell Taylor states that a major U.S. objective in Vietnam is to demonstrate that “wars of liberation” are “costly, dangerous and doomed to failure.” Discussing the American air campaign against North Vietnam, Taylor declared that its primary purpose was “to change the will of the enemy leadership.” Under intense domestic political pressure, the operation was halted on October 31, 1968. From 1965 to 1968, an estimated 643,000 tons of bombs were dropped on North Vietnam. A total of nearly 900 U.S. aircraft would be lost during Operation Rolling Thunder;
1968 – In the Vietnam War, American officials in Saigon report an all-time high weekly rate of U.S. casualties, 543 killed in action and 2,547 wounded in the previous seven days. These losses were a result of the heavy fighting during the communist Tet Offensive;
1972 – The 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle comes off the assembly line, breaking a world car production record held for more than four decades by the Ford Motor Company’s iconic Model T, which was in production from 1908 and 1927;
1979 – In response to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, China launches an invasion of Vietnam. Tensions between Vietnam and China increased dramatically after the end of the Vietnam War 1975. Attempting to expand its influence, Vietnam established a military presence in Laos; strengthened its ties with China’s rival, the Soviet Union; and toppled the Cambodian regime of Pol Pot in 1979. Just over a month later, Chinese forces invaded, but were repulsed in nine days of bloody and bitter fighting. Tensions between China and Vietnam remained high throughout the next decade, and much of Vietnam’s scarce resources were allocated to protecting its border with China and its interests in Cambodia;
1988 – Lt. Col. William Higgins, a Marine Corps officer serving with a United Nations truce monitoring group, was kidnapped in southern Lebanon by Iranian-backed terrorists; he was later slain by his captors;
1989 – A 6-week study of Arctic atmosphere shows no ozone “hole”;
1993 – A passenger ferry, the Neptune, overturns near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on this day in 1993. The ferry was dangerously overloaded, and carried no lifeboats or emergency gear. The rescue response was delayed because the Neptune lacked an emergency radio, and Haiti does not have a Navy. The United States Coast Guard joined in the rescue effort the following day, but recovered many more bodies than survivors. The exact casualty toll will never be known, but it is estimated that 900 people lost their lives in this disaster;
2008 – During the Afghanistan War, Taliban suicide bombing kills 80 in Kandahar, Afghanistan;
2013 – In racing, Danica Patrick becomes the first woman at the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to win pole position. She finished the race in 8th place;
2013 – It was one year ago TODAY!
Now, Off To The Fun Stuff!
Today’s AWE of GOD Picture:
Today’s The AWE of GOD Video:
Gorgeous Birds Of Paradise – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA&feature=player_embedded
Today’s Inspirational Video:
(Caution – Tears are coming when you watch this one!)
The Beautiful Woman Inside; The Truth About June – https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wPtOm9UXfnU
Today’s ‘I Love You, Will You Be My Pillow’ Picture:
Today’s Founder’s Quote:
“While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.”
– President George Washington
Today’s Patriotic Quote:
“Of all the supervised conditions for life offered man, those under USA’s constitution have proved the best. Wherefore, be sure when you start modifying, corrupting or abrogating it.”
– Martin H. Fischer
Today’s Fact Of The Day:
The first official presidential election in the United States took place in 1789 with George Washington becoming the first president. However, only 10 of the 13 states participated in the election, as New York had chosen no electors, and North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified the Constitution.
Today’s Picture Taken With Impeccable Timing:
Today’s Trivia:
Astronaut Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon with his left foot.
Today’s Clever Words For Clever People:
AVOIDABLE, (avoid-a-ble) – What a bullfighter tries to do!
Today’s Lexophile Word Play:
When she saw her first strands of grey hair she thought she’d dye.
Today’s ‘I Fixed It For You Honey’:
Today’s ‘Advice From Phyllis’:
Best way to get rid of kitchen odors: Eat out.
Today’s Internet Proverb:
Home is where you hang your @.
Today’s Computer Humor:
Today’s Funny Animal Video:
Annoying but Funny – https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uxVkedSU3_c
Today’s Adorable Baby Picture:
Today’s Christian Q & A:
Q. What do they call pastors in Germany?
A. German Shepherds.
Today’s Thought For The Day:
Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your mouth is moving.
Today’s Inspirational Music Video:
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XtwIT8JjddM
Today’s Verse & Prayer:
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
God Almighty, thank you for securing the ultimate victory for me by raising Jesus from the dead. I know he is coming with victory on the day you have determined, but I pray that I may live victoriously for you until that day. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
Today’s Funny Church Sign:
Until Tomorrow – America, Bless God !!!
